Promise
by Nimondor
Summary: '"You can sleep, and you should be," Green said. Maybe he'd given him too much of the medicine. "Close those eyes of yours and rest." Red looked at him instead and without knowing why he said, "Well maybe you should lay down here and keep me company." Yep, definitely too much.' RedxGreen, game-verse, one-shot. Enjoy!


**Promise**

He was the only one up there, and that's the way he preferred it to be. Always training, the clouds below them hid the electric bolts, the fire and water, and whatever else was thrown their way. No matter what, it was always snowing, and the boy that resided there at the top called it home. He hadn't been down since he'd won the championship when he was eleven, and now he was an old sixteen-year-old kid who hadn't seen his mother for five years. He was undefeated, he had never lost a battle, even though he had come close to it, no one ever ventured up here since the Johto champion had come up here and been beaten by him as well. What was his name again? Oh, right. Ethan. He had been disappointed that he had lost but wanted to battle again, but that had been four years ago.

Crimson-brown eyes looked up at the snow billowing around him. It was his 'self-imposed' exile, that's what Green called it, even though he had been the one that suggested training up here in the first place! The last he heard, his rival was the new gym leader of Viridian City, wasn't he? Well, good for him. He, above all else, deserved it even if he was a spoiled brat and an arrogant asshole. The two greats from Pallet Town, that's what the people of Kanto called them, he remembered seeing posters about them the day before he challenged the league. He had wondered at the time why Green would be on it but he found out after he defeated Lance and so the fated battle had begun and ended with him at the very top, undefeated as always.

With a sigh, Red put his hands in his pockets and headed into the cave. The crunching noises underneath his feet were barely heard over the wind, but even he was beginning to grow cold and inside the cave were where his pokémon resided. All but Charizard were asleep inside of their pokéballs and somehow the dragon had managed to find a way out of his—again. Red looked up at his official starter, patting his neck to reassure him that he was fine and to go back to sleep. Charizard fully understood but he didn't comply, resisting the pokéball's pull to put him back inside. Red frowned a bit at him but blinked when his tail wrapped around him and pushed him down with his nose to rest against him. Finally the champion understood what Charizard wanted him to do: rest and get warm again.

It was clear that the pokémon knew that humans weren't meant to be up in this cold place, his trainer's fingers were icy to the touch when he had patted his neck, and finally Red gave in, finally relaxing as Charizard's tail fire gradually warmed him. He shuddered in relief, not meaning to but Charizard gave a huffing sound as if he were laughing. He wanted his trainer to understand that he wasn't alone, as he usually was off by himself on the mountain, and Charizard didn't like that one bit, not with all the viscous, over-powered wild pokémon. Sure they wouldn't attack the human if he had his pokémon with him, but he'd caught Red keeping a wild Absol and Sneasel away from himself before. He was worried if one day he'd accidentally run into an Ursaring or Onix and become unable to protect himself.

Red didn't notice the dragon's worry, as he had fallen asleep and Charizard sighed, rolling his eyes before he set his head down with a yawn. Someday, perhaps, he would learn to become more careful. As morning arrived, Red woke up and deciding not to bother the sleeping pokémon, he got up and stretched, gingerly stepping over his tail and smiled a bit as Charizard curled up a bit more, sleeping away. He scowled, however, pausing in his steps when he heard something. Charizard seemed to sense it as well but instead of waiting, he jumped up and flew towards Red, grabbing him just after he had grabbed the rest of his pokémon and gave an involuntary yelp when Charizard flew as fast as it could out of the cave.

He could see why now: the rocks were caving in their home of five years quickly. He coughed when the dust settled and he managed to climb onto Charizard's back. _What the hell? What's going on?_ he thought, looking around for their attacker. He could hear a deep laugh and a man in a black suit stepped out of the rubble along with a Rhyperior, causing Red to frown. He had no clue as to what that pokémon was, but he knew it was powerful if it scared Charizard into flying away.

As for the laugh… he knew exactly who it was. "Red! It has been a very long time, and it is time for you to suffer how I have these last few years!" he shouted over the wind and stuck a hand out. "Rhyperior, Stone Edge!"

The pokémon—Rhyperior was it?—rose both of its huge hands and fired large rocks towards them. With a silent command, Charizard dodged them all, and soon dove towards Giovanni and his odd pokémon but something was terribly wrong, the former Team Rocket Leader was smirking.

_Fuck!_

He'd fallen for an old trick and he felt something tackle him hard off of Charizard's back. With a shout, he hit the snow hard as a blue blur passed by. He took the immediate chance to grab his pokéballs but as soon as he did, two larger hands took his wrists and tore them away from his belt. He grunted something, struggling with all his might to pull free from the Electivire that held him. Two tails appeared from behind the pokémon and placed them next to his sides but didn't do anything and Giovanni laughed at how vulnerable he was. "So I can either have Electivire kill you quickly or you can give up and join Team Rocket. Oh, you're wondering about my team are you?" He waved a hand and two other Team Rocket members stepped forward, the Gyarados had disappeared behind the woman, growling at Charizard as it roared at the Electivire, fully enraged. "Better answer quickly, Red."

He smiled and the Electivire pressed the tails against his sides. Red screamed in pain as the electricity ran through his body, all the while Giovanni laughed. When Electivire pulled its tails away, he slumped and Charizard had enough, leaping into the air and tackled into the electric-type. Startled, Electivire released Red, who hit the snow and didn't get up while Charizard sent a powerful fire attack in Electivire's face. "Electivire!" the other man shouted and quickly recalled the pokémon as soon as he could. When he did, Charizard's eyes turned towards them, fury raging through him but he went to Red quickly instead, picking up the unconscious human and quickly flew off the mountain.

Giovanni was laughing again. "I will await your answer, Red! If you don't join, better say good bye to your friends and family while you're still alive! I'll find you when the time comes, I can promise you that!" Charizard grunted something, wanting to turn around and make that human burst into flames for laughing at his trainer's pain, but when Red moaned, he remembered his new mission and flew as quickly as he could towards the only safe place he knew: the Viridian City Gym. Sparks still flew off a bit from Red's coat, two distinctive marks on his sides from where he had been electrified and marks on his wrists were beginning to bruise from when he'd struggled against the large pokémon.

It was a while before Red finally woke up and he looked around, seeing the dark sky passing over him and once he saw orange scales, he knew immediately who was holding him but their destination was a mystery as he tried to look around. Trees were passing at blinding speed beneath him and the glow of a city's lights weren't too far away. "…C-Charizard… no… n-not here…" he muttered, trying to tell him to land in the forest instead. He didn't want attention, not like this. Charizard merely snorted, just as stubborn as his trainer was as he flew towards the gym. It was dark inside but there was one light on from the attached apartment inside, and that meant Green was in.

Charizard landed as Red passed out again and he roared loudly, trying to alert Green to hurry up and answer the door. He heard footsteps and he roared again to get him to hurry. "What the hell is going on?" he heard the boy's voice from behind the door and finally Green opened it. "This had better be go—Red!"

Green Oak, Red's rival and best friend, looked positively terrified when he saw Charizard carrying the unconscious boy. He didn't fail to spot the boy's injuries, and he frowned deeply. "Who did this to him?" he asked, also noticing how Charizard seemed to be unharmed. "It wasn't a normal trainer there for a normal battle was it?"

Charizard shook his head and tried to tell him what he had seen but huffed when Green couldn't understand but allowed him to take Red inside with a grunt. "Arceus, you're heavy," he heard him mutter as he dragged him inside. He laid the champion down onto the floor of the living room, going as fast as he could to take off his shirt and couldn't help but to blush at the toned body of his friend but the red marks up and down his chest and stomach that led to two black spots on his ribs were anything but beautiful. He frowned and called for his own pokémon to bring him various supplies to stop the swelling, help the burns and so on. Then he saw the bruises on his arms and he glared furiously again as they became purple. "An Electivire, huh?" he muttered, hands in fists. He'd never been this angry before, not even when own grandfather had congratulated Red over himself, his own grandson! Then he looked up at Charizard. "Electivire aren't common around Mount Silver, even I know that, so I'm going to Pallet Town and bringing Red with me. Maybe Gramps can help with the wounds. Knowing him, he won't want to go to any hospital. Stubborn bastard."

The dragon didn't seem to like that idea but he picked Red up anyway, helping him onto his back so Green could hold onto him to make sure he wouldn't fall. He looked at the red-clad trainer in front of him, sighing softly. "When are you going to stop getting yourself into trouble, hmm?" He looked ahead again, knowing they still had a ways from Pallet Town. "This is payback, then, for saving me all those years ago." The memories hit him quickly; the Silph Co. building had been under the control of Giovanni and Team Rocket, he'd easily beat some of the grunts that stood in the way, but once it came to their leader, he lost, as if he wasn't a challenge to Giovanni at all. But When he'd been on the ground wounded and weakened from the battle, Giovanni would have had his Rhyhorn kill him if Red hadn't jumped in the way with Wartortle. They didn't have a battle, however, since the police were just outside and Giovanni decided to run rather than fight. Red helped Green out of the building and into safety before leaving again.

The stubborn brat that he had been, however, didn't even thank him for saving him, but he guessed it was because he had never actually been so close to death before otherwise he knew he would have at least acknowledged that Red had rescued him. He looked at Red again, noticing how his breathing was changing slightly, becoming a bite steadier as time went by. With a sigh of relief, he looked back towards their destination. At least his friend would be all right. Pallet Town was close now, they flew over Pewter City in a flash and Route 1 came into view. He saw a smaller version of himself kick a rock into the grass, angering a wild Pidgey after it hit and him shouting something about it being Red's fault and not his own even though he sent out Squirtle and beat it easily before catching it. Now Pidgeot had long since forgive him, but he doubted he could remember their first meeting. Everything back then had been his fault, he had always blamed Red for everything, especially the championship match, when he lost his title in the blink of an eye.

He shook his head, clearing his mind once the lab came into view. He signaled Charizard to land and entered it quickly while the dragon followed. He hadn't noticed that Red had woken up, trying to squirm off of Charizard's back but his pokémon wouldn't have it and kept him firmly in his arms. "Gramps! Gramps, you still up? It's important!" he heard Green's voice shout.

Crimson eyes widened. _Green? What is going on? Why are we at Professor Oak's lab? _He looked at the back form of Green and frowned finally, managing to get out of Charizard's grip. He held onto his sides with one arm and the other grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around sharply. "Why did you take me here?" he demanded, glaring.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because Charizard brought you to me half-dead and now you're back to your old stubborn—whoa!" He caught Red as he stumbled and he frowned. "Just take it easy, Red. I know those marks. That's an Electivire's electric inputs. You just received almost twenty thousand volts into your body, so I'm surprised you're standing now, much less conscious." He narrowed his eyes. "Rest, Red. Please. That much electricity could have killed you too, you know. Honestly, it should have but I guess since you're with Pikachu all the time, maybe you have a resistance of sort built up."

Red looked up into Green's gorgeous orbs for his eyes and then tore them away when he heard footsteps approaching. Professor Oak looked exhausted but he was confused the moment he saw them both. "Green? Red? What on earth are you two doing here?" Then he frowned, noticing Red slumped and Green wrapping his arm around his shoulders. "Red, are you all right?"

Green shook his head as Red started to have trouble staying awake. "Gramps, someone attacked him, an Electivire got him and he's still hurt," he said quickly.

"Then we need to take him to a hospital, not my lab!"

Just as he picked up a phone, Red shook his head. "No… No hospital… please…" He didn't want not only the attention of the media, but the media would spill that he was in the hospital thereby alerting Giovanni to his whereabouts. Green understood him enough to bring him to his grandfather, who would be the closest person that wouldn't spill to any reporter about the whereabouts of Kanto's champion.

Professor Oak frowned and put the phone down with a defeated sigh. "Fine. Green, follow me. We'll get him to the sick room." Green nodded and dragged an exhausted Red away. He set him down onto one of the beds while Red grunted with effort to lift his own body to get into a more comfortable position. Just moving his upper half was a struggle enough, Green was correct: moving his legs had been quite the challenge and the numbness was still there but he was sure it would go away eventually. "Red, can you lift your shirt for me?" Professor Oak asked and Red nodded, wincing as he showed him the wounds. The old man winced a little and inspected them. "Green did a good job trying to stop the swelling, but I will work on those burns, it may or may not hurt so Green, go get some pain medication from the cabinet there. Don't even tell me that it doesn't hurt, because it does, I can see that look in your face, Red, so can everyone else."

Green retrieved the medicine and Red was sure he was staring at his stomach. Who wouldn't? There were two distinctive black marks on him and his jacket had similar marks, ruining both his shirt and jacket for good. He also noticed his eyes running up and down him as if he was inspecting him and finally he felt the medicine take a hold and he felt his body relax. Professor Oak was doing something to his sides, but he didn't notice, he felt like he was going to pass out again soon, and Charizard was still out of his pokéball—wait, why was he out anyway? Oh, man, he was confused now. Eventually he felt the older man's presence leave and he was alone with Green the handsome. _Heh, I really thought that didn't I? Or was that the pain killer? I dunno._ He blinked a few times to try and clear his mind and fuzzy eyesight and looked up when he saw Green move into a chair.

"You can sleep, and you should be," Green said. Maybe he'd given him too much of the medicine. "Close those eyes of yours and rest."

Red looked at him instead and without knowing why he said, "Well maybe you should lay down here and keep me company."

Yep, definitely too much. He would never say things like that to him, ever… at least, when he was awake. He knew his face turned a very vibrant red when Red smiled, and finally Green huffed. "Tch, go to sleep you stubborn bastard." After a little bit more convincing, he finally passed out and Green rubbed his forehead. "Oh, Arceus I hope you don't remember that." But he couldn't get those defined abs out of his mind, his eyes, which he found held more emotion than his face usually betrayed and spoke louder than his throat, and finally his luscious raven hair that just absolutely _needed_ to have a hand brushed right through it—

"Okay, that's enough Green Oak, you're thinking too much," he said to himself. Charizard looked at him curiously as he spoke. "You should get into your pokéball, you deserve your rest as much as he does." He took the dragon's pokéball and returned him without a struggle, placing him with Red's other pokémon. He hadn't realized he'd slept in the chair until someone was shaking his shoulder and then roughly his head. "W-what?" he mumbled, lifting his head up. He felt a little drool on his chin and he quickly wiped it away despite Red smiling at him. "Red! You're awake! What… time is it?" he asked between yawns and looked around. Red's pokéballs were empty, and Red shrugged his shoulders. "Oh. Well, how do you feel?"

"Better."

One-word answers were what he usually received and he sighed with relief, nodding. "Good. By the way, Charizard wouldn't leave your side for hours yesterday, and only went into his pokéball after you fell asleep. So… who attacked you yesterday?"

Red finally frowned, looking away towards his knees as he hesitated. Should he tell him that Giovanni was trying to get him to work for Team Rocket? He had no idea why though, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was because he was the strongest trainer in Kanto, but he didn't know if that was still true or not. Ethan, after all, had been gone for a long time and he was probably stronger than he was by now. Finally he took a breath. _Inhale._ "Giovanni and Team Rocket." _Exhale._ There he said it. He heard Green gasp sharply as well.

"Team… Rocket? I thought they were gone! Ethan beat them two years ago, and you beat them five years ago!" Red shook his head, telling him he didn't know what was going on but Green saw right through the blatant lie. "What did they want from you? And don't tell me that you don't know otherwise they wouldn't have gone after you."

_Arceus damn him._ "Giovanni wants me to join Team Rocket. I said no, and he'll try to kill me, I think. Not that I'm surprised at all." He looked up at him, a serious expression on his face. "And whatever he has planned, I'm going to stop him again."

Green stared at him for the longest time before groaning. "Then I'll go with you." Red blinked his eyes a few times and before he could retort, he interrupted with, "I'm not going to let you go off on your own again! Look what they did to you!" He sighed and stuck a finger at him. "If you're feeling better then let's get going. No doubt they're hiding somewhere but if you pretend to accept their offer, we can beat them without a problem, right?"

Red smiled and nodded, getting out of bed quickly and pulled on his shoes. He nearly flew out the door with Green but he looked over at his mother's house, pausing for a moment and looked at Green, who smiled at him. "You should at least go and say hello to her. When we're done with Team Rocket… stay with her." He hesitated. "She's been a mess without you, by the way. She's always worried about you."

He finally nodded. He hadn't seen his mother for almost a year now, and knowing her, she would have a very big hissy fit about him not visiting her for a year, even missing his own birthday without her around. He recalled all of his pokémon and put them onto his belt before heading down the hill. What struck him as odd, however, was a Delcatty sitting on the porch, fast asleep. His mother had never owned a pet before, but he guessed she got one to keep her company while he was away. The Delcatty, however, didn't enjoy his presence as he approached the steps. The pokémon hissed, blocking his way and he stopped, frowning at the cat. He looked up when he heard his mother's voice say, "Goodness, Delcatty, if you're trying to scare the mailman away _again,_ I'll put you back into your pokéball!"

When the door opened, she froze and a bright smile came to her face. "Red! Oh, Red, dear!" She all but threw herself into her son's arms, hugging him so tightly he winced in pain from his burned ribs but he smiled anyway, patting her back. She pulled away soon, glaring up at him. "You know better than to not call before you show up, young man! The house is a mess, I have nothing cooked and—"

"Mom." She blinked a few times and Delcatty tilted her head, no longer hissing but curious as to why her owner had run to this strange new boy. "I have to leave soon again. Team Rocket… They're back. I have to stop them."

She frowned deeply at the news. "You have had enough danger for enough of your life already! You've barely turned sixteen now! Why do you have to go now?"

"Because I am the champion, and it is my duty to protect the populace of Kanto." He hugged her again, albeit a bit gentler than the last hug. "You're my mother, I love you, and I'll come back right after, I promise." Her sigh told him that she didn't agree with him going, but knew he would go no matter what she said.

She looked up and smiled, putting a hand on his cheek. "You've grown up so much, Red. I'm very proud of you. I remember you being a little boy declaring you were going to be the world's best pokémon trainer, and at first I did doubt a little that you would be, honest. But you never lost a battle, you grew up along with your pokémon, and you even matured far more than I ever will. You're even taller than I am now, which proves to me that you aren't the same little boy that ran around the house destroying anything he got his little hands on." Red blushed a bit in embarrassment but she chuckled, kissing his cheek. "You may be a champion now but… just remember you aren't immortal, okay? Keep your pokémon with you at all times and… and just be careful." Hesitantly she stepped away from him and he nodded, turning around, seeing Green and Pidgeot waiting.

He released Charizard and climbed onto his back. "We'll be back before you know it!" Green called to her and she nodded, watching them fly off and out of Pallet Town. Green flew beside Red and they stopped in the Viridian Forest, staring at a river as Pidgeot and Charizard rested. He hadn't the slightest clue how to draw out Giovanni and the two mystery trainers Red talked about, but he wasn't surprised that Red didn't know what the other two looked exactly like. He gave a sigh and rubbed his head. "So all we know is that Giovanni wants you to work for him. Maybe he's trying to take over Kanto again and needs a beater or something, but as one of the world's greatest trainers, of course you would say no, especially after defeating Team Rocket countless times, right?"

"Only once."

"You took the entire organization down once, but you beat lots of grunts and even executives, right? You beat Giovanni at his gym and his Rhyhorn at Saffron City." He smiled as Red blushed a little and looked away then looked over at Pidgeot and Charizard and finally back at Red. The other boy had his eyes downcast as if to avoid looking at him and he frowned, secretly wishing that he would look at him just so that he could stare into those beautiful irises of his and finally looked away at the water. "Did he say at all where he would be?" Red shook his head. Well, there goes one plan. They didn't have the time to run around and look for them, even Green knew that much. "Red…?" Red looked at him curiously, noticing the tone of his voice had a tinge of sadness. "Do you think we'll make it back? You know… after all of this is done?"

Red hesitated and looked away towards the spot where Green was staring at before smiling a little. "Yes. I think we will. I promise my mom, after all. She would come into the afterlife and drag me out and then kill me all over again if we didn't." Green snorted but he smiled anyway.

"That does sound like her." He rubbed his head and finally looked at Red one more time, causing the other trainer to look at him as well. "If we do make it, then I'll tell you a secret that I've been dying to tell you for a while then. If we don't… then I guess you'll never know then, huh?"

Red scowled in confusion but tried to hide it, getting up. They flew from city to city for days, with the occasional news reporter spotting them together and both of them fleeing the moment the camera was turned on. Green would help protect Red from the cluster of reporters, but it was just enough attention to try and drag Giovanni out, and as they headed outside of Saffron City towards Route 8 he knew they would see him soon. He ensured all of their pokémon received treatment from the pokémon center and finally looked at Red. "You ready, champ?" Red nodded, looking more than ready than before.

They were barely three miles out when a Rhyperior stepped out from the trees, giving a roar at the two teenage boys. Red was glaring daggers into it, grabbing a pokéball and sent Blastoise out while Green threw out Alakazam. He stuck a hand out and Blastoise lowered his cannons, sending a powerful blast of water towards Rhyperior. Green wasn't sure if it was Hydro Cannon or a Hydro Pump, but he was sure it was powerful enough to stop any ground/rock-type in its tracks. Giovanni appeared from behind the large pokémon and he smirked. "So, Leader Green and Champion Red versus little old me?" he said and grinned, throwing another pokéball. "How exciting!" A Nidoking appeared, stomping its foot onto the ground immediately.

"Alakazam, use Psychic!" Green shouted. The spoons Alakazam held glowed a bright purple and Nidoking was soon enveloped in the same glow and thrown into Rhyperior, where Blastoise used Hydro Cannon again. As Blastoise rested, Green grinned. "Give it up, Giovanni! You can't win, and Red isn't going to join some criminal gang for your own benefit!"

Giovanni grunted. "Fine, have it your way then." He rose a hand, and a strange pokémon appeared, a psychic. Green could tell just by the way it was wearing the strange armor that it would be powerful, but Red frowned at the purple tail all the while the Team Rocket leader smirked. "You know this pokémon, don't you, Red? I'm sure you'll find that he has a bit harsher of a personality than last you met. Now, Mewtwo, get rid of them both!"

As Mewtwo started to charge an attack, Green shouted for Alakazam to use Reflect and Red ordered a Blizzard, hoping that it would hit and at least slow the pokémon down. He was troubled that Giovanni had somehow caught Mewtwo, after Red himself had promised that no one would ever be able to catch him, especially not Team Rocket. Even with the Reflect and Blizzard, Mewtwo still greatly overpowered both Blastoise and Alakazam, knocking them both out with one hit. Giovanni was laughing madly by now, smiling widely. "Yes! Finish them both! Kill them! They do not deserve to be alive, Mewtwo! He is the one who broke his promise, wasn't he?"

Red looked up, gasping for air when he felt his throat constrict and he instinctively put his hands against his neck to try and pull whatever was holding him off. He couldn't feel the ground anymore as Mewtwo lifted him off of it with its psychic power, but Green sent out Arcanine, shouting, "ExtremeSpeed!"

He could hardly handle seeing Red injured by the Electivire and now by Mewtwo? It was enough for one week. Once Arcanine hit Mewtwo, it dropped Red, causing him to cough and gag as he took in desperate gasps of breath, and doing so he could feel the wounds on his sides open a bit but he paid no mind, throwing out Pikachu, Snorlax and Charizard's pokéballs. "Mewtwo! Don't you recognize me?" he finally managed to say, looking up at the scientific experiment of a pokémon, but it paid him no mind, instead raising its hand to attack the four pokémon against him.

It ended the same, however, for all of their pokémon. Even though Mewtwo seemed to be tired by now, their teams had been utterly destroyed while Red and Green were both exhausted. "Now, Mewtwo, finish the trainers!"

Mewtwo turned obediently towards Red and Green and Red frowned, standing up and stood in front of Green. "If it's me you want to kill, fine, but don't touch a hair on Green's head!" He snapped, in such anger even Green had never heard. He looked up, holding his arm as he tried pushing himself up but failed to do so, collapsing onto his side again. Even he saw Mewtwo hesitate, and taking the chance Red continued, "I found you alone in the Cerulean Cave, and once I did, you asked me if I could protect you from other trainers. I did promise that I'd protect you from Team Rocket and for that I am sorry. I know you aren't a hateful pokémon, but whatever that armor is making you do, or whatever Giovanni is making you do, you don't have to!" He winced when he was lifted into the air from the psychic pokémon again, squeezing his chest now. "Mewtwo! Remember—who you are! P-please! You also p-promise to protect me, didn't you?"

Mewtwo finally stopped and hesitated a moment before setting him down. Giovanni realized soon what was happening and he glared. "Mewtwo, he lies! Finish them!"

"Mewtwo…" Red finally muttered, still being held by the psychic but didn't struggle like he did last time. Green frowned deeply as he watched helplessly but when the boy was released and fell in a lump onto the ground, he rushed to his side as Mewtwo turned to Giovanni, the armor falling off in the process. Giovanni was enveloped in a bright glow and it wasn't long before the two had disappeared. Red gasped and fell beside Green, smiling a little at him. "See? Told you so."

Green managed to smile as well. "You're such a… stupid ass you know that right?"

He finally laughed, nodding. "Yes… but, you know what?" He hesitated and blushed a bit. "I am your stupid ass." He sat up and looked at his team, frowning at their poor state and recalled them. "But so are you, for shoving me out of the way of that Aura Sphere and getting yourself hurt."

"Heh, you're not much better, champ." He sat up as well and recalled his own team. Then he looked towards the spot where Giovanni and Mewtwo had been. "Where did they go?" Red shook his head and helped him to his feet. "Come on, let's get to the pokémon center and get them healed up. Then we'll make our way to Pallet Town." He looked at Red, finally smiling. "But at least your Team Rocket problems are gone for now, right?" The battle had ended quite suddenly but both of them were more than relieved that it was over, and as soon as Red nodded, they were off back for Saffron City. "But… I did promise I'd tell you a secret Red."

Red glanced at Green curiously.

"And I'm glad that we survived this little trip, so… ehh…"

He tilted his head when the boy faltered but smiled. "I know how you feel, Green," he finally said when Green's face was a bright red. He took his hand. "Besides, now I know that I'll always have someone to fight Team Rocket with, eh?"

Green finally smiled. "You know, you talk too much sometimes."

Red shrugged. Maybe he didn't, maybe he did. "You'd be the only one to know that then." He was just glad he was with Green, someone who would always and forever protect him from harm and hide him from the pesky media reporters.

* * *

**Just a quick little one-shot that I've wanted to write for a while now. I always support RedxGreen :3 Although this had a bit more action than I had originally intended, I like the results. My first one-shot, by the way. I am still working on my other story, Vice Versa, I just haven't updated it in almost a week or so... So I'll work on that later on today. Anyway, thanks for reading!**


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